The Poetic Ordering of Life
I recently had the privilege of hearing Dr. Leland Ryken speak at Union University. Dr. Ryken was speaking about how we are to interpret and analyze Psalms as poetry. In one of his lectures he stated that literature is “the poetic ordering of life.” We should not neglect the form that a poem takes; the form holds meaning in itself.
When he said that, I had another thought: the same thing could be said of liturgy. Indeed, liturgy is the poetic ordering of worship – and our lives are focused on the worship of the living God.
Sometimes Christians tend to regard liturgy as boring, irrelevant repetition, something that is “Roman Catholic.” Thinking of the liturgy as a kind of spiritual poetry, however, casts things in quite a different light. How we order our worship is not void of symbolic meaning – repeating this form Sunday after Sunday solidifies these truths in our minds. Liturgy is beautiful, and the repetition, with this right attitude, becomes to the Christian not a boring nuisance but a beloved song that we sing over and over.
When he said that, I had another thought: the same thing could be said of liturgy. Indeed, liturgy is the poetic ordering of worship – and our lives are focused on the worship of the living God.
Sometimes Christians tend to regard liturgy as boring, irrelevant repetition, something that is “Roman Catholic.” Thinking of the liturgy as a kind of spiritual poetry, however, casts things in quite a different light. How we order our worship is not void of symbolic meaning – repeating this form Sunday after Sunday solidifies these truths in our minds. Liturgy is beautiful, and the repetition, with this right attitude, becomes to the Christian not a boring nuisance but a beloved song that we sing over and over.
What do you think?
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